Newspaper Article - 07.29.2003 Veterans so emnmark anniversary
PATROTISM ON By BARBARA SHERMAKfield, with all tha
PARADE — Of the Tmes 7 /Y ,;�y �:�_ It changed all of major cities except
Standing at atten- Pusan reduced to;
tion while the
TIGARD — Under a brilliant blue our lives."
rubble. Communists;
sky, several hundred people g4thered in forces twice ca
Tualatin Valley Cook Park Sunday to commemorate the tured the capital city
Community Band July 27, 1953, signing of the armistice Tom Wi"combe of Seoul.
plays the nationalthat ended the three-year-long Korean
Two million•
anthem are Tigard t War. Koreans on both:
American Legion "The theme of this three-year project is sides were killed or wounded, and millions;
Post 158
Freedom Isn't Free,' and we are here to more were left homeless or separated from;honor veterans and their families who have their families.
Commander Bob paid a price to preserve the freedom we all "It changed all our lives," Tigard resident
Sullivan, left, enjoy," Mayor Jim Griffith told the crowd, Tom Withycombe, a second lieutenant in the
Sergeant at Arms which gathered at picnic tables and on the Marines serving in Korea for five months iy,
Dick Eliot and First lawn surrounding the Bishop-Scheckla �.
,`.� Gazebo. "That's why we are fere today."
Vice Commander ■ See KOREA, A3 '•
Statistics from the Korean War, which
Joe Bustos. started June 25, 1950,are staggering: 58,809 FOR HOME DELIVERY,CALL 503-620-9797 y
Americans killed, 178,632 wounded and III II IIII I I •
82,318 missing.
iIIIIIIIII
BARBARA SHThe ERMA'Ns The entire Korean peninsula was a battle- I II II
7 12506 00101 5
' I
Korea: u is often or ets war
■ Continued from Al
1952, said in March. "Most of us T �
came back to live our lives for those
who couldn't."
King City resident Loren -
Mitchell,who served two stints in the
Korean War as an aerial photogra-
pher in the Navy,said in March,"The
Korean War has always been called , j
the Forgotten War because it fol-
.
�
lowed World War II by just four0 y�
years, and many military personnel Q,
fought in both wars.
"The general public today knows
very little about the Korean War and .a
our Korean War Memorial (in '
Wilsonville)." j
Bloody conflict BARBARA SHERMAN/The Times
In brief,the Korean War originat- PROUD VETERANS — Korean War veteran Eugene Shirley, above left, who graduated from
ed with the division of Korea after
World War II. After efforts to unify Tigard High School in 1948 and was sent to Korea in 1950 for 13 months, attended Sunday's cer-
the peninsula failed, the South in emony. Shirley was one of the Marines who fought their way against overwhelming odds nearly
1948 became the Republic of Korea. 100 miles from the Chosin Reservoir to the sea. Walter Crow, 84, above right, who served in the
and the North became the People's U.S. Navy during World War II, examines a display of Korean War information.
Republic of Korea.
Fighting broke out at the border in 1949,and on across the country for the same amount of veterans to high school classes and service
on June 25, 1950,North Korean forces invaded time. clubs, pictorial displays in City Hall and flag
the South. To protect the South, a United In June 2000, the U.S. Department of ceremonies at City Hall and the Tigard Festival
Nations force comprised of the United States Defense designated Tigard and, Tigard of Balloons.
plus small contingents from Great Britain, American Legion Post 158 as partners in a Also. Griffith talked about the war during a
Canada, Australia, Turkey and other countries three-year project to commemorate the 50th Memorial Day ceremony at Crescent Grove
joined in the fray. anniversary of the Korean War. Cemetery in 2002.
China joined the war on the North's side in "The goals of this project have been to raise Local veterans have been interviewed, and
October 1950, and the war raged on for more the community's awareness of the Korean War TVTV,which provides local cable access,pro-
than 2'/z years until a cease-fire was declared and to honor the veterans of that war and their duced a program about the three-year project
and the armistice signed. families,"Griffith said. that is airing on TVTV channels 28 and 30.
Just as the war was fought for three years, Activities in Tigard during the past three
the commemoration of the armistice has gone years include presentations by local Korean War 0 E-mail:bsherman@commnewspapers.com.